trail in North America. The length of the wagon trail from the Missouri River to Willamette Valley was about 2,000 miles (3,200 km). It normally took four to six months to traverse the length of the Oregon Trail with wagons pulled by oxen. About 80,000 pioneers used it to reach Oregon, and about 20,000 to Washington before the transcontinental railroad in 1869.[1]

Contents

Background History

Footpath to wagon road. The route of the Oregon Trail was first discovered by fur trappers about 1811. Several expeditions of government men explored and mapped parts of the trail in 1832, 1834, 1846, and 1848. It was originally a footpath or mule pack train trail. In 1830 the first fur trade rendezvous wagons reached the Green River in Wyoming. By 1836 when the first pioneer wagon train was organized in Independence, Missouri, the wagon trail went as far as Fort Hall. By 1843 the wagon road reached the Dalles (Oregon) where pioneers could raft down the Columbia River. In 1846 the Barlow Road around Mt. Hood finally reached Oregon City.[1]

Oregon boundary dispute.Washington State and British Columbia were at first disputed and jointly occupied by Britain (Canada) and the United States. The British and their Hudson's Bay Company controlled Washington northwest of the Columbia River. But pressure was being exerted against Canada. In 1836 American pioneer groups began migrating over the Oregon Trail into Oregon. Thousands came over the next decade, far more than from Canada. Slogans of the 1844 American presidential campaign clamored for war to take Washington and British Columbia by force. The Oregon Treaty of 1846 gave Washington to the United States and British Columbia to Canada.[2]

Reasons for migrating.Mountain men fur trappers were the earliest to use the Oregon Trail. A few early missionaries came in the 1830s. Larger groups of American settlers began arriving in 1843. The California Trail, Mormon Trail, and Bozeman Trail overlapped much of the Oregon Trail and branched off it starting in 1846. The California Gold Rush of 1849 contributed significantly to west coast migration. Western gold and silver strikes, free farm land, lumber, and ranching all increased traffic on the Oregon Trail. An estimated 80,000 pioneers used the Oregon Trail to Oregon, and 20,000 to Washington by 1869, and about 320,000 more followed part of the Oregon trail to take one of its three main branches.[1]

Preparations. Most emigrants were farmers who already had their own wagons and most of their own supplies. Other travelers usually purchased supplies at "jumping off points" in Missouri, Iowa, or Kansas. Supplies cost as much as $200 per person including a covered wagon, teams of oxen, 150 pounds of food per person, tobacco, cooking gear, extra shoes, two sets of clothes, 25 pounds of soap, washboard and wash tub, tent, a canvas or rubber groundcloth with blankets for sleeping, tools, guns and ammunition. Some also bought a trail guide book.[1]

Trail life. Non-essentials were often abandoned on the trail to lighten the load. Forts and trading posts (Ft. Kearny, Ft. Laramie, Ft. Fetterman, Ft. Bridger, Ft. Hall, Ft. Boise, Ft. Nez Percés, and Ft. Vancouver) along the way usually provided supplies, fresh animal teams, repairs, spare parts, and news of trail conditions. Hunting (including bison), fishing, and trading were also common along the route. Emigrants usually formed into wagon trains for security. Almost everyone preferred to walk rather than ride in dusty, bumpy wagons. They had to average 11 miles (18 km) to 17 miles (27 km) per day to reach Oregon City in four to six months. To leave too early risked muddy trails and too little grass for livestock. To arrive late risked traveling in winter weather. Thunderstorms and fierce winds were common. In good weather they often slept under the stars. On the prairie buffalo chips were gathered for use as cooking fuel. Wash day was about every two weeks. Many travelers enjoyed side trips climbing over trail landmarks like Chimney Rock, Scott's Bluff, and Independence Rock. Some entrepreneurs drove herds of cattle over the trail to sell and help pay for the trip.[1]

Deaths. About five percent of pioneers died on the Oregon-California-Mormon trails. The most common killer was cholera along the Platte River in Nebraska. This disease killed as much as three percent between 1849 and 1855 (6,000 to 12,500 individuals). About 3,000 to 4,500 deaths happened because of Indian attacks especially in Idaho and Nevada after U.S. Army troops were withdrawn in 1860 in the run up to the Civil War. Other causes of death included freezing, scurvy, being run over, drownings (especially in the 1850s before many ferries), and accidental shootings.[1]

Decline of trail use. In 1855 the Oregon Trail (and California Trail) traffic declined dramatically for at least two reasons. First, Oregon's free land incentive ended in 1855. From 1850 to 1854 pioneers could claim 300 acres of land for free. From 1855 to 1862 Oregon pioneers were required to pay for government land. The next free-land opportunities were not created in Oregon until the 1862 Homestead Act was passed. Second, the Panama Railroad was completed with steamship links that made transportation from the east coast to the west coast of America more practical than using an overland wagon trail.[1]

Another factor that later diminished the use of the Oregon Trail was American railroads. The transcontinentalUnion Pacific and Central Pacific railroads completed in 1869 to Sacramento, California made that route faster, safer, and less expensive than traveling the Oregon Trail. Railroads to Oregon were developed in the 1870s. Nevertheless, a few emigrants continued to use the Oregon Trail as late as the 1890s.[1]

Main Route

The Oregon Trail was miles wide with many variations. Emigrants started on their journey from many sundry "jumping off points" in three states. Some took a variety of shortcuts, and others traveled on different sides of the rivers from other emigrants. Travelers often completed their journey in Idaho, Washington or places other than Oregon City. The Oregon Trail was the trunk trail for several other branch trails. The California Trail starting 1846, the Mormon Trail in 1847, and the Bozeman Trail beginning 1863 branched off from the main Oregon Trail.[1]

Modern parallels. The modern roads that roughly match the Oregon Trail from Independence, Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon are listed in an online edition of a National Park Service publication about the Oregon Trail:

Settlers and Records

Pioneers who used the Oregon Trail were mostly Americans from the Midwest or Mid-South. Most settled in Oregon, especially in the Willamette Valley, but about 20 percent moved on to Washington (state) before 1870. Others went to California.

No complete list of pioneer settlers who traveled the Oregon Trail is known to exist. However, a variety of sources exist which can be used to identify most of them. Some of these sources may reveal their place of origin.

Pioneer Databases. Less than one percent of Oregon Trail pioneers are so far listed in:

Oregon Land Records. Provisional-government records.Oregon's provisional government was established in the spring of 1843. Inhabitants were permitted to stake out claims and survey them by the metes and bounds method. Over 4,000 claims were made. When Congress established the Territory of Oregon in 1848, that system ended. The provisional claims have been abstracted and published by the Genealogical Forum of Oregon.

Federal land records.The federal Donation Act of 1850 encouraged settlement of Oregon Territory by granting 320 acres to white male citizens, or those who intended to become citizens, who settled on the land prior to 1 December 1850. Wives were eligible for an additional 320 acres. White male citizens who arrived between 1 December 1850 and 1 December 1853 could apply for 160 acres, with wives receiving an equivalent amount. The act further provided for similar grants to those of mixed Indian-white parentage who were already in the territory; and it required settlers who had staked claims previously to refile them. Amendments in 1853 and 1854 cut the residency-cultivation requirement in half and extended the filing date to April 1855

County level land records.After federal land was transferred to a settler, subsequent deeds were recorded in county courthouses.

Oregon took territorial and state censuses in years between federal censuses. These censuses often have different questions than federal censuses and additional family information. Pioneer censuses included: